Lefebvre ready to grow in Hamilton

BRENDA BRANSWELL, The Gazette09.12.2012

Montreal Canadiens G.M. Marc Bergevin, second from left, introduces new Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Sylvain Lefebvre, left, as well as player development coaches Martin Lapointe, and Patrice Brisebois, right, at a news conference Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Brossard, Que.

“I drove to Montreal and met with him. He offered me a contract when I got back home,” Lefebvre said.

“I wanted to become a head coach and I knew I would have to get some experience somewhere,” Lefebvre, 44, added in a telephone interview from Hamilton, Ont.

Having worked in the AHL before his three-year assistant-coaching stint with the Avalanche, Lefebvre said: “I knew that league is a great league for development, not only for the players, but for the coaches, too.”

Three months later, Lefebvre is now preparing for the Bulldogs’ training camp that opens on Sept. 29 in Sherbrooke and for the start of the team’s season on Oct. 13.

Their last season was a dismal one, although there is plenty of reason for optimism, according to Lefebvre. But he was diplomatically tight-lipped about the Canadiens’ prospects in Hamilton. Since players hope to land a spot with the Habs, Lefebvre suggested it wasn’t appropriate for him to mention names.

“Obviously, there’s not many spots for players to make the team,” he said. “But having said that, if there’s one spot, I mean every player should believe that they’ll have that spot.”

If they don’t make the Habs, those expected to play in Hamilton this season include forward Michael Bournival from the Shawinigan Cataractes, Brendan Gallagher from the Vancouver Giants, and first-round draft picks Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu, both defencemen. Louis Leblanc, the Canadiens’ first-round draft pick in 2009, played more games in Montreal (42) than Hamilton (31) last season and is seen as having a good shot at making the Canadiens this year.

The players in Hamilton will also get occasional help from two other retired NHL players who recently joined the Canadiens’ brass. Martin Lapointe, director of player development, will help the team’s forwards, and former Habs defenceman Patrice Brisebois, a player development coach, will work with the defencemen.

Lefebvre found a home this summer in Hamilton. He and his wife, Marie-Claire, now have an empty nest with their four children studying at CEGEP and universities in Lennoxville and Montreal.

In 14 seasons as an NHL defenceman, Lefebvre played for five teams, including the Canadiens, and was with the Avalanche when Colorado won the Stanley Cup in 1996. When it was his turn to take brief possession of the Cup after the season, as is custom, Lefebvre used it as an unorthodox — although sacred in its own right — stand-in for a baptismal font at his daughter Alexanne’s christening. They cleared it first with the priest, who was delighted they brought the Cup.

“He thought it was a fun idea,” Lefebvre said.

Lefebvre also worked as an assistant coach in the AHL for the Lake Erie Monsters from 2007 to 2009.

Bulldogs players should bank on Lefebvre expecting a strong work ethic.

“But I’m also a communicator and I think it’s the communication era,” Lefebvre said.

People, especially kids, forget that human interaction is the most important communication, Lefebvre added.

“So I won’t send texts to anyone, especially not on the bench,” he joked.

As for other qualities Lefebvre will bring to the job, his friend and one-time teammate with the Quebec Nordiques, retired NHL goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, described Lefebvre as calm — someone who gets his point across without yelling. The two worked together in coaching roles with the Avalanche and spent a lot of time talking hockey, said Thibault, who is co-owner of the new Sherbrooke Phoenix team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“I saw him interact with players and I thought he was very good in his dealings (with them),” Thibault said.

“Sylvain is a guy with a lot of integrity, very honest. There are no half measures.

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